Pakistan’s humiliating defeat at the hands of England has left the country’s cricket fraternity fuming. The Shan Masood-led side became the first-ever team to lose a Test match by an innings despite scoring more than 500 runs in the first innings. The hosts posted 556 runs in their first essay after opting to bat. In reply, England piled up a mammoth score of 823/7, riding on the colossal 454-run stand between Joe Root and Harry Brook. Later, the visitors bundled out Pakistan for 220 in the second innings to win the game by an innings and 47 runs.
Annoyed over Pakistan’s yet another loss at home in the longest format of the game, former pacer Shoaib Akhtar suggested his country’s cricket has been on a downward trajectory over the last decade. He further slammed the current crop of players, citing them as ‘not good enough’.
“Jo boyenge wo kaatenge (You will reap what you sow). Over the decades, I have seen the decline. The situation is disappointing. Losing is fine, but the game should be close. However, what we saw over the past two days, they completely gave up hope. This shows that we aren’t good enough. England scored 800+ and Bangladesh also beat you,” Akhtar said during a live discussion on PTV Sports.
Addressing the possibility of Pakistan losing their Test status, the former pacer said the present scenario is truly ‘disheartening’. He also urged the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi to take harsh measures to reconstruct the country’s cricket.
“Fans are saying that Pakistan should stop playing Test cricket. I saw some comments. ICC must be thinking, ‘Should we send teams to Pakistan and keep their Test status alive’. It’s just disheartening. This is going to hurt Pakistan cricket, fans and the upcoming talents. I want to request the PCB to sort out this mess,” he added.
Several media reports have claimed groupism in Pakistan dressing room and Akhtar feels that when the management is afraid of the captain, issues like these will continue to harm the progress of the team.
“If your management and captain are weak, there will be groupism. If the captain is selfish, there will be groups. The same is the case if the coaches are afraid of the captain. The captain calls the shot when it comes to selection. This has been the culture since my playing days,” Akhtar further explained.
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